Ariana's a stripper/prostitute running from her past. Brayden saves her one night & finds out what she does. Brayden is determined to figure out why she is selling her body when she doesn't need the money & hiding the truth. A crazy ex, protective friends & a secret past, Brayden finds that he is doesn't call the shots and falls for Ariana, who was never taught how to love

I walked down the street and looked back and forth. I sighed, there's no one out tonight and I really need to reach my quota, its not like I need the money but its nice to keep a flow coming in.

"Ari, you got this one?" George asked motioning to a guy beelining for me, I just nodded. I tugged my dress down a bit in the front to show a little more cleavage and put on my charm. The scruffy looking guy walked up to George and glanced at me.

"How much for that one?" he asked nodding in my direction. George put an arm around my waist and pulled me close so the guy could get a better look.

"She's $75 for everything and $300 for the night," the weird man looked at me and I smiled suggestively.

"Every other time I've come here, they're only $50!"

"Well she's the best at what she does," George said and I suppressed rolling my eyes. That's all I was to George, his top prostitute but I didn't complain when he wanted to play "protector". But all he was is a pimp. The guy started bargaining but I knew George wouldn't budge, he hates it when people try to change his prices. "Now its a hundred," George puffed his cigarette. This guy was a fucking idiot. His jaw dropped open and he looked at me. I just smiled as he pulled out his wallet and pulled out a couple of twenties. He grabbed my arm aggressively. "If she comes back damaged, it'll be your ass." The guys just pulled me off in the direction he came from.

"Your little ass better be worth it too," he said giving my arm a tug, almost making me fall over in the tall heels. I stopped walking and pulled my arm out of his grip.

"You need to stop pulling on my arm and learn some fucking respect," I spat at him and his eyes bulged.

I scoffed. "How about respecting yourself and going back home to your wife." I stopped walking again.

"Why you little whore!" he growled and dragged me in the near by ally. He shoved me against the brick building and took my face in his hand tightly. "You don't know the first thing about me and my wife! She doesn't even put out anymore and I'm suffering here," He slapped me and I fell on the ground. He sunk to his knees and gripped my face again.

"Like I give a fuck! When you said those vows, you knew what you were getting into and whose god damn fault is that?" he picked me up by my throat, slammed me against the wall and started choking me. I could feel my heart pounding in my head as my vision started to blur and my breathing began to crease. Right when I was about to pass out he suddenly let go and I fell to the ground coughing. I looked up and there was another figure who had him pinned up against the wall across from me. I didn't know who it was but he was tall as fuck. Or was that just because I was on the ground. He let him go he ran away. The tall figure looked down at me and offered a hand. I looked at it for a second before grabbing it.

"Are you all right?" he asked looking down at me. I hadn't realized I was only eye level with his chest. Yep, he was one tall motherfucker.

"How fucking tall are you?" I coughed, looking up at him. I literally had to incline my neck all the way back to see his face. He looked amused.

"I guess your fine then," I looked around for my bag. "I'm 6'7". How tall are you?" he asked as I grabbed my bag off the ground.

"I'm a towering 5'0" without heels," My vision started to blur and I started to fall over. His arm came around me.

"Come on, your coming with me," He tugged me along but I resisted.

"I'm good," I said pulling away. "But thanks anyway."

"Don't be ridiculous," his arm came around my waist again.

"Fuck off!" I pulled away again but I was helpless against his iron grip. He rolled his eyes.

"This doesn't have to be this difficult," His grip slacked and I pulled away again almost falling over completely. "All right, you asked for it," he said and I was slung over his shoulder. I started hitting his back.

"You put me down right fucking now! Just because your tall doesn't mean you can just pick me up and take me wherever you want!" He laughed.

"Well I told you not to be fucking difficult!" he said holding me tighter. I was quiet and pissed off. I couldn't do anything, he was too big and this was a rather awkward position to be in. I hit the back of his head with my elbow. "Ow! What the hell was that for?" he asked rubbing the back of his head and I smirked.

"For being an asshole!" I crossed my arms and pouted. The walk was about five minutes and it was almost an awkward silence. Like I care, I didn't want to be here in the first place. Its not like there were people watching, it was 2 o' clock at night so no one was there to help me. I huffed. I cannot believe he thinks he can just pick me up and walk away with me. Who does he think he is? I was suddenly dropped back to the ground and I was hit with another dizzy spell. He grabbed my shoulders to steady me but I just glared at him.

"Come on, my car's right there," he said walking into a parking garage. Maybe I could make a run for it... "Don't even think about it, just get your little ass in the car." I turned around and watched him unlock a new dodge charger. Great, another rich asshole. I walked as slowly as I could.

"You know this is kidnapping!" I sat in the car and crossed my arms. He chuckled and we sped out of the parking garage. I flipped down the mirror to look at my face. "Fuck!" Pain shot through my jaw. There wasn't any bruising but my lip was busted and there were some small cuts. George is going to be pissed. I shut the mirror and glanced at this mystery guy, only to find him staring at me. I ignored him, pulled out my phone and dialed George's number.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, he was a bit of a freak but its all good," I lied looking out the window.

"You need to be picked up?" He asked and I glanced at this tall motherfucker.

"No, I'm okay and don't worry George I'll have the money," I said.

"Okay, take care of yourself Ari!" I hung up and tossed the phone in my bag. It was quiet for a minute before he started talking.

"What's that about?"

"None of your god damn business!" I snapped and he huffed.

"I just saved your fucking ass, I think I deserve an explanation!" He gripped the wheel.

"Well I didn't asked to be saved," I retorted. "I had it under control." He scoffed.

"Yeah fucking right, you were about to pass out! And no telling what could've happened if I hadn't showed up." He took a sharp right. "Now tell me, what's this about? Do you need money or something?" I chuckled.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't ask you. Plus, like I said, its none of your fucking business," I could hear him curse under his breath and grip the wheel tighter. We drove the rest of the way in silence and I could tell he was livid. I just rolled my eyes, guys are so over dramatic. We pulled up to a huge building and someone opened my door. A guy in a uniform bowed and helped me out the car. I smiled, "Thanks." What's his name just stocked by into the entrance of the building. The guy at the front desk greeted us and I nodded in his direction. I followed him over to an elevator which dinged open and we walked in. I could finally see him clearly, or actually I started to pay attention to what he actually looked like.

Boy was he attractive. He had short brown hair, it was long enough to grab but short enough to manage and his eyes. Omigosh, his eyes were light grey and they contrasted perfectly with his naturally tan complexion. But he looked strangely familiar.

"Like what you see?" he smirked and I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. I could feel him looking down at me. "Its cool, you're hot too," He gave me a once over and winked. I crossed my arms and gagged. The elevator dinged again the door opened. He led me down the hallway to a door that said 851. I heard him jingle his keys and he walked in. The lights turn on and I glance around and he had a really nice apartment, it was typical bachelor pad. You know big screen TV, big couch, good sized kitchen and it smelled like axe. The kitchen looked like it was straight out of a catalog but what surprised me was how clean this place was. Its not like he seems like a dirty person but he seems like he would be messy. What caught my attention was the huge floor to ceiling window that covered an entire wall.

I walked over and I could feel his eyes on me but I didn't really care. It was the perfect view, you could see the whole city! It was so beautiful. I sighed and looked down at my hand, the ring was burning on my right hand. The memories started rushing over me. I closed my eyes for a second and then I could hear some jingling. I turned around and saw a big dog. Was everything here oversized? I mean it was huge. I bent down and pet his head, he licked my face and all I could do was smile. What a sweetheart.

"You're not scared of him?" tall guy asked walking over to me and I shrugged.

"Not much to be scared of," I looked up at him. "He's big but all that means is he needs more love. Isn't that right boy?" The dog licked my face again and I grinned. "Whats his name?"

"Brock," he pet the dogs head and I stood up. "That's weird, he doesn't normally take well to strangers," he looked pointedly at me.

"Its probably because he's bigger than me," I picked my bag up off the ground.

"Yeah he's weights around 180 but that's kind of small for a mastiff," He stood up next to me. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To bed," he said and I stopped walking.

"Can't I sleep out here?" He shook his head and continued to walk.

"Nope, that couch will murder your back," I continued to follow him.

"Then where the hell am I going to sleep?"

He smirked at me over his shoulder, "In my bed with me." I stopped walking and he looked back at me and laughed. "I don't bite," he smirked. I could slap it off his face.

"I'm not worried about the bite, I'm worried about what I'll get infected with after you bite," I followed him into the bedroom and looked around. I resisted the urge to scrunch up my face. There was a huge bed in the middle of the room and tons of Lakers pictures everywhere. I walked up to a picture of whatever his name is and some other guys. They were all wearing jerseys and they were smiling victoriously at the camera. Omigoodness, he's Brayden Braxton. NBA Allstar and guaranteed hall of fame and he was drafted right out of college. Known to be an infamous "bad boy" and everyone falls for his "IDGAF/heartbreaker" attitude. "You're Brayden Braxton," I said turning to look at him. He looked at me. I guess he was expecting me to freak out or something but I only stared blankly at him. It was a big deal but not that big of a deal.

"In the flesh," he smiled and rummaged through a set of drawers. He tossed me a shirt. "You can wear that, the bathrooms right there." I walked into to the bathroom and shut the door. I pulled the dress off and felt overly exposed. I looked in the full length mirror. I surveyed my body and it seemed to be in relatively good shape despite what happened earlier. I was really short but God blessed me with curves in all the right places. I've got some pretty big knockers for my height but I was curvaceous. I wasn't fat but my hips did flare nicely into a pair of skinny short legs. I'd always been blessed with a good body but it only improved when I started to workout. My stomach was tight and flat without looking masculine and my arms and back were muscly. I glanced down at my lets and there were some bleeding cuts on my knees. Shit. I've got to clean that up

Where would there be some bandaids and some Neosporin? I bent over and looked in the cabinets under the sink. I was looking around and suddenly the bathroom door flew open. I froze and slowly looked sideways at Brayden, he only grinned, "Nice ass." I flushed and grabbed the shirt to cover my exposed butt. Stupid thong didn't cover shit. "Left my phone in here," He grabbed it off the counter. "What're you looking for?"

"Something to clean these cuts," I motioned to my knees and he nodded.

"Its under there, in the back," with that, he walked back out and shut the door. I relaxed and slipped the shirt over my head. After grabbing all of the stuff I went to work and cleaned out the small cuts. They didn't really need bandaids there was just excess blood all around them. Next I looked around for a wash cloth so I could clean my face. I found one and ran it under the warm water. I scrubbed the make up off and looked at my face. It wasn't as bad as I thought but my jaw still hurt like a bitch. I took my heels and dress and shoved them in my bag. I walked out of the bathroom and he was laid out on the bed without a shirt. Woo, he had a body on him. He had a perfect six-pack and a sculpted chest. It all led down to the to die for v-cut that guys worked so hard for but rarely got. And he had an attractive tattoo on his right arm. Mmmm. I looked away quickly and grabbed my brush out of my bag.

"Would it kill you to wear a damn shirt?"

"Am I distracting you?" Yeah but I wasn't going to tell him that. I set my bag down on the side of the bed that was opposite of him and walked over to the mirror he had by the dresser. I began brushing my hair. God it was knotty.

"You got some long ass hair," he commented as I continued to brush it. It was down to my waist. "Is it fake?" I laughed and looked at him through the mirror.

"Hell no, nothing on me is fake," I flipped my hair to the side and brushed it some more.

"Boobs?"

"Nope."

"Thighs?"

"No."

"Face?"

"Nah," I sighed. Why doesn't he shut up?

"Ass?"

"What part of nothing don't you understand?"

"Your ass has to be fake, its just too perfect. You've got a great boob to ass ratio, what're you, 34C?" I glared at him. "Kind of big for such a tiny girl but it looks hot on your little tight body. You work out?" I chose to stay quiet and not answer his questions. I walked over to the bed and sat on the edge furthest away from him. I could feel him watching me. "What's your name?" he asked. I was quite for a second before turning to fully look at him for the first time. I didn't look away like he'd expected me to. I knew his type too well, conceited jerk who thought he could get any girl he wanted. It seemed like he was looking at me for the first time too because he didn't even bother to hide the surprised look on his face.

"Ariana," my voice was weirdly quiet. I could see his face soften but he looked away.

"How old are you?"

"Old enough," I moved so I was under the blanket. He sighed and I rolled my eyes, "23." I leaned back and closed my eyes.

"What were you doing on the streets?" He looked at me but I kept my eyes closed.

"Its really none of your-"

"Frankly, I don't give a shit," he snapped. "Just tell me what the fuck you were doing."

"That's where I work," I said simply turning look at him.

"What do you do on the streets?" He asked, it was my turn to look away.

"I'm a prostitute," I state nonchalantly and shrug.

"You're serious?" He asked and I looked back up at him and nod. "I don't understand-"

"Whats there to understand? I sleep with men for money a few nights a week and I strip sometimes." I closed my eyes again. I was expecting him to go into a long speech about my terrible jobs, the one that I'd heard so many times before but surprisingly, he didn't. He was quiet for a minute and just when I thought he was done talking he asked,

"Which do you like better?" My eyes snapped open, I couldn't hide my shock. But his face looked calm. His features were sharp but his face looked incredibly relaxed.

"I'd rather strip," I said.

"Why?"

"Well its not like the men touch you plus I don't get completely naked. And sometimes when I'm on the streets, the guys get rough and..." Some terrible memories resurfaced but I pushed them back, refusing to let him see me weak. I could feel his eyes. "It just gets out of hand."

"Like what happened tonight," he asked and I nodded looking sideways at him.

"That was minor, George is going to kill his ass for what he did to my face."

"That's who you called earlier? Your pimp?" I nodded. "He's a good guy?"

"Yeah besides the fact that he's a pimp, he makes sure to look out for me," I sunk down into the bed. I felt movement beside me and opened my eyes. Brayden was getting under the blanket and sunk down into the bed.

"Why'd you start...doing what you do?" He asked.

"You have a lot of damn questions don't you?" He only smiled and I sighed. "I was running away from something." He laced has hand behind his head and looked at me again.

"Running from what?"

"My demons," I reached over and turned off the light.

"They catch up with you yet?" He asked flicking his light off.

I grinned into the darkness. "Nope." It was quiet for a good ten minutes and I was falling asleep when I heard some wining. I opened one of my eyes and there was Brock wining in my face and looking quite pitiful.

"That's his side of the bed," Brayden said.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked and an arm came around my waist. He pulled me tightly up against his rock hard body. Mmmm. I resisted the urge to push my self more into him.

"No, he get's upset when people take his spot." Brock hopped onto the bed and plopped down beside me.

"Is this a fucking joke?" I asked pulling away but his grip tightened.

"No now go the fuck to sleep and be quiet," his chin rested on the top of my head.

"Asshole," I whispered and he chuckled. I felt tiny wrapped in his arms but then again I felt incredibly safe. Like I didn't feel like he would hurt me despite his size. I tried to ignore the way his abs felt against my back, hard like marble cut strait from a stature. He pushed his head into my hair.

"Your hair smells good," He murmured.

"Fucking weirdo," I pulled away but he just anchored me back. After about two minutes of silence he just had to break the peace.

"Ariana?" his voice was husky as he breathed on my neck. I fought the shiver running down my spine.

"Hmm?" I didn't trust my words.

"Can we have sex?" I elbowed him in the gut.

"Go to fucking sleep!" I said and he chuckled.

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